Macron says Kyiv should be allowed to ‘neutralise’ Russian military bases, prompting Putin warning

7 comments

1. More on this subject from other reputable sources:

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   – Sky News (B-): [Sunak says he will bring back National Service if Tories win general election](https://news.sky.com/story/sunak-says-he-will-bring-back-national-service-if-tories-win-general-election-13143184)
   – ABC (B): [British PM Rishi Sunak announces plan to bring back mandatory national service](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/rishi-sunak-announces-uk-national-service/103894632)
   – Al Jazeera (C+): [UK’s Sunak promises mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if elected](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/26/uks-sunak-promises-mandatory-national-service-for-18-year-olds-if-elected)
   – ITVX (B+): [Mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if Tories win election, Sunak vows](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-05-25/mandatory-national-service-for-18-year-olds-if-tories-win-election-sunak-vows)

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2. Russian modus operandi. Putin loves to bully and intimidate. I guess it’s because it has so often worked in the past, esp with Europe.

3. This is something to watch very closely. Ukraine *absolutely* needs to be able to strike within Russia, because doing so provides an immediate and tangible defensive benefit and is a standard wartime practice.

   But, for all of Putin’s prior blusters, the response to doing so with Western weapons has to be watched carefully, because there really is no historical precedent since the end of the second World War– for all of the proxy wars that “benefited” from the arms exports of the West and Soviet union, the governments of which who were also calling the shots behind the scenes, there was essentially an unwritten rule that anything provided stayed in the third party country. There were exceptions to this, of course – the use of Soviet pilots in Korea probably being the best example, but in general we are about to enter unexplored territory.

   Again, it’s not to say that Ukraine should not be able to strike Russian targets, but it is to say that the West had damn well be ready to respond appropriately (which most likely can’t rely on article 5) if an MBDA factory takes a cruise missile.

4. If Putin is so worried about seeing his military slapped in Russia he can always pull what’s left of his fledging military out of Ukraine

5. Standard issue poostain nuclear threats incoming! Let’s see if alcohol soaked medvedev or grand master shits for brains will do the honors.

6. Relax France.

7. Cry. Me. A. River. Poo stain.